Kang Chae Young wins Universiade; Lee defends men’s title

After taking gold in Berlin, Taipei marked Kang Chae Young’s second international victory in a row.

Pictures courtesy Tetsu Lee and Taipei 2017.

Recurve archers Lee Seungyun and Kang Chae Young took individual titles on the last day of competition in Taipei City, making it two in a row at the event for 2013 World Archery Champion and a second consecutive clean sweep of individual titles for Korea at the Universiade.

Twenty-one-year-old Kang, who made an incredible international debut in 2015 when she won three gold medals at the Hyundai Archery World Cup stage in Shanghai, also won the most recent leg of the international tour in Berlin, Germany. She was the only new individual winner at the Universiade, inheriting the recurve women’s title from Ki Bo Bae (who took gold medals in 2011 and 2015).

“Until after Salt Lake, I wasn’t in good form for competition. During that third World Cup in the US, I realised what I wasn’t doing well in the matches. I had no confidence in myself. As soon as I got back to Korea, I focused on improving my self-confidence,” said Chae Young.

She won a major national tournament days before Berlin, before returning to the international podium at the last stage of the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup.

“I got my feeling again and, in practice, it worked so well. Then, I went to Berlin and it worked again. I still had the positive sensation from Berlin in Taipei and I managed to continue to shoot my best.”

A final against home-favourite Tan Ya-Ting, representing Chinese Taipei, looked tight after two sets with the pair tied at 2-2. In the third, Tan started shooting eights – she put in at least one in each of the subsequent sets – while Kang rode a series of 28s to victory.

“I’m quite proud of myself, and more than happy with my performance heading into the world championships,” she concluded.

The Universiade was 2013 World Archery Champion Lee Seungyun’s first international tournament since the Olympic Games in Rio, where he finished seventh individually and took team gold with Kim Woojin, who came third in Taipei, and Ku Bonchan.